


Right Here in the Light

by OrdinaryVegan



Series: Piper Minyard-Josten: kid au [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Oh My God, Post-Canon, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tumblr Prompt, andreil as parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 04:03:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10180250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrdinaryVegan/pseuds/OrdinaryVegan
Summary: It takes all of his willpower not to physically react from shock when he finds Piper curled up tightly on Andrew’s chest, King tucked behind the bend in her knees. His surprise is two-fold. First, he can’t believe he slept through another person being added into their bed. And second, he can’t believe that Andrew is actually asleep in his current position. His arm is wrapped tightly around Piper’s shoulders, the entirety of her small upper body resting on his chest. Neil can do nothing but stare in awe at the pair of them. He thinks of how far they've all come, each of them with their own unique struggles, and his sentimentality nearly gets the better of him.“Staring,” comes Andrew’s low voice, disguised by disuse. All these years, and Neil still doesn’t know how hedoesthat. His eyes aren’t even open. Ridiculous.A few members of the domestic Andreil household find themselves awake in the middle of the night. In other words, Andrew Minyard is the best father in the universe, and no one will convince me otherwise.





	

**Author's Note:**

> prompt by anon: Could you write Neil waking up and finding Piper sleeping between him and Andrew?

Andrew wakes with a small start, silent as always. Memories of hands and teeth are thankfully fading away as he takes in his surroundings, dragging himself back to the present. He hears Neil’s soft breathing to his right, feels Sir’s claws slightly digging into the skin of his leg, sees the blob of fur that is King tucked against Neil’s side. 

His heart rate has now returned to normal, but there's no way he’ll make it back to sleep. Not after that particularly unpleasant dream. He navigates to the edge of the bed without waking Neil and managing to annoy Sir, both of which were on his to-do list. Andrew quietly walks to the door and pulls it open, casting one last glance over his shoulder to make sure everyone is still asleep. Silently congratulating himself for a clean getaway, he steps into the hallway, remembering to leave the door cracked on his way out. It was Neil's idea, not only leaving the door unlocked but cracking it open as well. Andrew still isn't completely comfortable with it, but he understands the necessity. 

He pads through the apartment, aiming for the kitchen and the glorious distraction of hot chocolate. It has been his go-to comfort for years, and it always makes him miss Bee. He resolves to call her tomorrow to check in. It’s been too long. 

Halfway there, he hears a small cry coming from the room at the end of the hall. His steps speed up as he makes his way to the door, knocking tentatively once he's reached it. There is no answer, but he can still hear the barely-there sounds of distress coming from within. 

He slowly opens the door and steps inside, eyes landing on the sleeping little girl fiercely clutching a purple rabbit to her chest. Her face is turned into her pillow, like she was unconsciously trying to muffle her cries. She is shaking, her body tense from head to toe.

Andrew keeps his distance, knowing full well how varied her reactions can be. “Piper,” he says. Then again, louder when he gets no response. “ _Piper_.” 

She jolts awake, eyes flitting around the room in fear until they land on him. She breathes out a sigh of relief and flops back down onto her pillow, rabbit tossed aside. “Thanks,” she says, bravely smiling up at him like all is right with the world now. Who she's trying to convince, Andrew isn't sure. 

He doesn't reply but moves toward her instead. He silently extends a hand, and she studies it for a moment before reaching out and taking it, letting him pull her from the bed and out of the room. 

Andrew leads her into the kitchen, turning around to pick her up and place her on the counter. She starts kicking her legs back and forth, hitting the drawers on every downswing. He absently thinks that this should annoy him. It doesn't. 

He has just put the almond milk on the stove to boil when she says, “Did you know that almond milk was really popular during the Middle Ages?”

Andrew stops. Turns around. Stares at her for a moment. “We've been letting you spend way too much time around Kevin,” he says dismissively, putting his attention back to the task at hand. 

Without even looking at her, Andrew can feel how hard she rolls her eyes. It reminds him of Neil. “At least Kevin watches stuff other than Exy and Jeopardy.”

Andrew swings back around immediately. “Excuse me? Did I or did I not sit through all eight Harry Potter movies last weekend?” 

“Well…” she falters for a moment, then lifts her chin in defiance. “You didn't like it, though,” she points out. “And the whole time, you were just complaining about how Dad and Harry are basically the same person. Something about an ‘idiot hero complex’.” She's got him there, and she knows it. Dammit. 

He inclines his head in acknowledgement and mutters, “Touché.”

She hums in satisfaction and continues with her original point, completely undeterred. “Aaaaaanyway,” she begins, and Andrew knows that tone of voice indicates a lecture is coming. “National Almond Day is February 16th.” 

Andrew groans in defeat and raises his eyes to the ceiling while she proceeds to brief him on the history of almonds. He decides right then and there to monitor the documentaries Kevin is allowed to show her.

Piper is on a roll though, and he knows that she won't need a response from him for at least twenty minutes. He listens in silence while he goes about preparing their hot chocolate, adding an absolute shit ton of mini marshmallows once it's finished. He reaches up to open the cabinet above the stove, moving mugs aside as he searches for her favorite: a panda bear with a bamboo handle, because _they're endangered, Dad, we have to raise awareness_. The one he grabs for himself is completely ridiculous, half of a pair bought for himself and Neil as a gift from Nicky: a black cat on a white mug, holding a tin can attached to a string. Neil’s mug is light blue with an orange and white cat, holding its own tin can and the other end of the string. As Andrew said, ridiculous. But there's no one around except for Piper to witness him actually using it, so what the hell. 

She’s moved onto something about the economic benefits of almond farming by the time he finally hands her the mug. Her monologue ends with, “...and isn't that so cool?!”

“Yes,” he says, offering a nod in return. “Very.” She gives him a winning smile, and he would listen to her talk about almonds for the rest of the night just to keep that look on her face. 

The two sip on their hot chocolate in peaceful silence for a while, Andrew retrieving her mug and washing them both once they've finished. The quiet seems to have allowed Piper’s thoughts to drift back to why she's awake in the first place. Her eyes are trained on the floor from where she is still sitting on the counter. Andrew clears his throat. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks. 

She looks up at him before quickly flitting her eyes away again. “Not really,” she says quietly, in a voice so small in comparison to the one that just recounted an entire almond documentary, that Andrew would question whether it was actually her speaking had he not watched the words come out of her mouth. His chest clenches tightly, and he wants nothing more than to protect her from every threat this world has lying in wait. But he can't protect her from her own mind. He knows this only too well. 

“Okay,” he replies. He moves to pick her up again, and this time she latches her arms around his neck and holds on like he’s going to pull away. Which Andrew thinks is a little silly; he will never pull away from her. No matter what. 

He stays there, leaning against the counter for a minute, just holding her while he decides what to do. She's clearly more rattled than she wants him to believe, but Andrew has been with Neil long enough to know an “I’m fine” when he sees one. She’s learning from the best. 

He takes note of how tightly she is still holding onto him, how she's started shaking again but is trying to hide it. There is no way she will be able to go back to sleep alone. 

"Do you want to come to our room?” He asks, voice low and attempting to instill some calm into her. 

She nods immediately, like she was hoping he would offer. “Okay,” he says as he heads to the kitchen doorway, hitting the light switch on the way out. Blinded by the darkness, he finds his way to their bedroom by memory. He pauses outside the door. “Pipes,” he nudges her to get her attention. When she lifts her head off his shoulder and looks at him, he continues. “Just remember not to touch your dad, okay?” 

She nods again. “I won't, I promise,” she whispers back. 

He quietly opens the door and slips inside, closing it behind himself this time and noting that all three inhabitants are still fast asleep. Once he's made it to the bed, he pulls back the covers on his side and navigates his way in with Piper still clinging to him. They adjust their positions, causing as little disruption as possible until they finally settle in. Andrew is on his back with Piper curled into his side, making herself as small as possible. He sacrificed his pillow to her, but her head winds up on his shoulder anyway. She is still shaking slightly, so he wraps his arm around her and pulls her closer. A few minutes later, she is fast asleep. A few more, the shaking stops. 

Andrew takes stock of the room for the second time that night: Neil’s even breathing, Sir attached to his leg once again, King still using Neil as a space heater, and Piper’s knees digging into his ribs. He decides they are all as safe as they can be. He lets himself drift off to sleep, confident that they will all survive whatever their minds decide to throw at them. 

\---

Sunlight begins to peek in through the blinds, and this is the first thing that Neil notices when he wakes up. The second thing is that King is no longer in his usual spot at his side. He shrugs it off and rolls over toward Andrew, opening his eyes on the way there. When his blurry vision clears, he discovers why King abandoned him.

It takes all of his willpower not to physically react from shock when he finds Piper curled up tightly on Andrew’s chest, King tucked behind the bend in her knees. His surprise is two-fold. First, he can’t believe he slept through another person being added into their bed. And second, he can’t believe that Andrew is actually asleep in his current position. His arm is wrapped tightly around Piper’s shoulders, the entirety of her small upper body resting on his chest. Neil can do nothing but stare in awe at the pair of them. He thinks of how far they've all come, each of them with their own unique struggles, and his sentimentality nearly gets the better of him. 

“Staring,” comes Andrew’s low voice, disguised by disuse. All these years, and Neil still doesn’t know how he _does_ that. His eyes aren’t even open. Ridiculous. 

“Yeah,” Neil says just as quietly, letting go of the reins on his smile. Andrew finally opens his eyes, looking first to Piper, then to Neil. Neil raises a questioning eyebrow at him, but Andrew just shrugs slightly and rolls his eyes in return.

Neil huffs a quiet laugh and eases himself out of the bed, making sure not to disturb anyone. He heads to the bathroom and then to the kitchen, starting up the coffee machine and grabbing some water while he waits. He hears the bedroom door open and close, followed shortly by the appearance of a clearly annoyed-at-being-awake Andrew. He gives Neil his morning scowl, and Neil feels at home. 

“So,” Neil says, wondering if Andrew will fill him in.

Andrew is quiet for a moment, leaning against the doorframe. “We both had nightmares,” he begins. “I brought her out here, and she lectured me on a fucking almond documentary for an hour. I didn’t want to make her go back to sleep alone.”

Neil has about a dozen heartfelt responses to that, all of which would be received with violence, he was sure. “Almonds?” He asks instead, though he knows Andrew can see right through him, just like he always has.

“Kevin,” he answers, as though this explains everything. It does. 

“Ah. Of course,” Neil says as the coffee machine goes off. Andrew retrieves two mugs from the cabinet, one orange and one black. After they’ve fixed their drinks how they like, they stand side by side, leaning on the countertop behind them. Their silence is comfortable, familiar. It surrounds them until they’re finished, Neil taking Andrew’s mug with his as he moves to the sink to wash them out. As he is drying them, he feels Andrew’s approach before he hears his sigh as he lets his forehead fall into the space between Neil’s shoulder blades.

Neil smiles, setting the mugs aside and turning to face him. Andrew’s hands come up to the counter, caging Neil in. Neil crosses his arms over his chest and leans back with a smirk, taking Andrew in. 

“You’re getting soft,” he says, smirk growing into a grin with every passing second. 

“Say that again, and I will lock your ass out of this apartment the next time you go for one of your ungodly 15 mile runs,” Andrew threatens, leaning into Neil’s space.

“Aww, that’s so sweet. You think a locked door would be able to keep me out. Have you forgotten who I am?” 

“No,” Andrew says. “I know who you are.”

Neil asks, “Yes or no?”

Andrew answers by closing the distance, catching Neil’s mouth with his and bringing his hands to Neil’s waist. Neil hums into it, trailing his hands lightly up Andrew’s arms until they find their familiar home in his hair. Andrew has just started pulling Neil’s hips closer to his when a small giggle and the sound of a camera shutter stops them both in their tracks.

Neil looks to the doorway to find Piper, Andrew’s phone in hand, looking absolutely unrepentant. “Nicky said he’d pay me $20 for evidence that you love each other!” She exclaims as she sprints down the hall toward her room, the door flying open and closed in record time.

Neil takes one look at Andrew’s still frozen expression and laughs so hard that tears come to his eyes.

“Okay, but are you really surprised?” Neil manages to ask through his laughter.

Andrew’s eyes narrow and he sighs. “No. Not really,” he admits.

Neil pulls Andrew back in, landing a kiss at his temple and quickly getting swatted away.

“C’mon,” Neil says, grabbing Andrew’s hand and tugging him toward Piper’s room. “The least we can do is make sure Nicky actually pays up.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you ever so much for reading, my incredibly generous and lovely friends! i am so thankful to each of you for taking time out of your lives to read some words i wrote down.
> 
> title from "In The Light" by The Lumineers!
> 
> come scream with me on tumblr @theordinaryvegan


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